The present invention is directed to a liquid fabric softener dispenser for dispensing fabric softener into clothes while the clothes are tumbling and being heated so as to dry in a mechanical dryer.
Numerous liquid and solid fabric softeners exist in the marketplace which are used during washing or drying of clothes for preventing the buildup of static electricity on the clothes, softening the clothes and the like during the drying of the clothes subsequent to washing. Modern electric and gas heated dryers are well known for their ability to produce static cling in clothes unless a fabric softener is utilized.
The first major types of fabric softeners are generally referred to as liquid fabric softeners, such as is sold under the trademark "Downey" and that are generally utilized while clothes are being washed in a washing machine. Although liquid fabric softeners are relatively inexpensive, a large portion of the fabric softener used in washing machines is wasted as it is discharged from the washing machine with the wastewater.
The second major types of fabric softeners are normally offered as solid fabric softener carrier sheets, such as are marketed under the trademark "Bounce", and that are placed in a dryer with the wet clothes during drying. The sheet fabric softeners are generally more expensive as compared to the liquid types based on a per usage basis. Consequently, attempts have been made to utilize liquid fabric softeners within dryers. However, the liquid softeners may spot or stain clothing where it is allowed to "wet" the surface of the clothing; therefore, liquid fabric softeners have never been successfully dispensed directly onto the clothes in the dryer.
Still further attempts have been made to utilize liquid fabric softener within dryers through an indirect dispenser by placing the softener within a dispenser. A typical type of structure utilized for this purpose consisted of a hard spherical shell with numerous dispensing small ports therein. The fabric softener was poured into the interior of the shell which was then closed and the shell was placed in the dryer. During tumbling, the liquid bounced against the side of the shell and small amounts of the softener squirted out onto the clothes. Control of the softener in this manner is relatively difficult and spotting can occur where droplets engage the clothes.
A second type of dispenser of this type included a hard shell or soft bag-like structure filled with loose strands of absorbent fabric. While this structure provided a potentially more even distribution of the softener, the loose fabric has a tendency to become released from the device, so that some become undesirably mixed with the clothing, with frequent usage and these devices were quite difficult to quickly and accurately refill with fabric softener. Additionally, these devices had a relatively limited life expectancy due to breakdown of the components thereof.